


accidentally perfect

by xxprincessxx



Category: High School Musical: The Musical: The Series (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Slow Burn, Strangers to Lovers, artist!nini
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-21
Updated: 2020-04-21
Packaged: 2021-03-01 18:27:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 18,857
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23761558
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xxprincessxx/pseuds/xxprincessxx
Summary: “Look I know what I said, and I just couldn’t say it but I’ll work on myself and work through my issues. I think I can learn and grow to love you if you just give me a chance, please, please, Monica. I don’t-”“Hello?” Nini says interrupting the man on the other end of the line, realizing he had called the wrong number and she was most definitely not Monica.The voice stopped immediately pausing for a few moments, “I’m going to assume you’re not Monica.”Nini chuckles, toying with the blanket that was laid neatly across her lap, “Afraid not. But if it makes you feel any better, that was the best thing that’s happened to me today.” The man on the other end started laughing at her comment not realizing how crappy of a day she’s had and that she wasn’t joking, “I’m sorry to bother you, I’m glad my embarrassing begging spiel made you laugh.”“It wasn’t embarrassing at all!” Nini assures him.“You’re lying.” He teases.OROn a particularly rough night, Nini gets a call from a random number. The man on the other line might just have made her day a little brighter.
Relationships: Big Red/Ashlyn Caswell, E.J. Caswell & Nini Salazar-Roberts, E.J. Caswell/Gina Porter, Ricky Bowen/Nini Salazar-Roberts
Comments: 27
Kudos: 133





	accidentally perfect

**Author's Note:**

> hi everyone!! here's another long one shot for you, not as long as some of my other ones but i honestly wasn't expecting it to reach 18k either so. 
> 
> i hope you enjoy it!

Nini collapsed on the couch in her apartment after a rather rough day. Her morning was dreadful, she woke up late which resulted in her missing her first class, and she had forgotten her lunch leaving her starving throughout her whole shift at the art gallery. Finally getting through the day she quickly made it back to her apartment with a half-eaten subway sandwich in hand, just to realize that her boyfriend – ex-boyfriend, was coming by to pick up the box of his things that she packed the other night. It was the reason she got up so late that morning, having slept at 4 crying after everything that had happened between them.

The brunette leaned against the back of the couch tipping her head back staring at the freckles on the ceiling. The past week had just been awful, and she just wanted life to stop moving just for a second. She felt like she couldn’t catch her breath with everything going on. Sometimes she thinks she shouldn’t have moved all the way to New York, maybe life would’ve been easier if she just stayed back in Salt Lake.

She closes her eyes briefly, trying to push everything to the back of her mind, to think of anything that just didn’t suck. Nini was brought out of her train of thought when her phone started ringing in her hand, with her eyes still closed she answered it assuming it was Alex coming to pick up his stuff. Before she could even utter a word the voice on the other side of the phone started speaking rapidly causing Nini to sit up right taken aback but the strange voice.

“Look I know what I said, and I just couldn’t say it but I’ll work on myself and work through my issues. I think I can learn and grow to love you if you just give me a chance, please, please, Monica. I don’t-”

“Hello?” Nini says interrupting the man on the other end of the line, realizing he had called the wrong number and she was most definitely not Monica.

The voice stopped immediately pausing for a few moments, “I’m going to assume you’re not Monica.”

Nini chuckles, toying with the blanket that was laid neatly across her lap, “Afraid not. But if it makes you feel any better, that was the best thing that’s happened to me today.” The man on the other end started laughing at her comment not realizing how crappy of a day she’s had and that she wasn’t joking, “I’m sorry to bother you, I’m glad my embarrassing begging spiel made you laugh.”

“It wasn’t embarrassing at all!” Nini assures him.

“You’re lying.” He teases.

“Okay, maybe just a little bit. Do you want my advice?” She asks daringly, she was in no place to be giving relationship advice to him. For one, she had no idea who this man was, or the girl he was talking about, and two, she had just gotten out of a messy relationship. Nevertheless, the man on the other line chuckles, “Give me your best, not Monica.”

Nini laughs at the nickname, “You can call me Nini,” she introduces, “This Monica you’re talking about doesn’t seem like she’s worth it, if she didn’t want to wait and help you to figure out what love is. I know it’s not my place, I’m just speaking from experience.” She adds rapidly, realizing she was probably overstepping with what she said being too caught up in her own personal at the moment.

Over the other end she hears him take in a sharp breath, “Thanks Nini, I just don’t know if I can let her go yet.” He admits shyly.

“You might not be ready, but she might be.” She says in a sad voice, looking over to the box that was sitting on the coffee table waiting to be picked up. As if he knew that she was thinking about him, she feels her phone vibrate bringing her to look at the incoming text, Alex letting her know that he’s just parked the car and will be up in a few minutes, “Look, I got to go, my ex-boyfriend’s coming over to pick up his things.” She informs him, “I wish you the best, stranger.”

“It’s Ricky.” He says quickly, “I’m sorry to hear about your ex-boyfriend. It was really nice talking to you Nini. Hopefully one day, we can talk again.”

Nini chuckles, “Thanks Ricky, I think I’m fine still trying to make peace with the whole situation. Just don’t call another random number calling them Nini, because it probably won’t be me.” She laughs referring to how they had met. “Goodnight Ricky.”

“If you’re not fine, you can call me. Goodnight, Nini.”

The brunette lets out a breath chuckling to herself, that was the weirdest phone call she’s ever had with anyone. She couldn’t believe she had just told him about her breakup, most nights of the week she couldn’t even manage to admit it to herself, that was until she started packing up his things the previous night. Despite the phone call being exceptionally weird and random, it did bring her mood up slightly, she wasn’t lying to him. But she doesn’t think anything could completely turn her day around. Her thoughts were disrupted by a small knock on the door.

Reluctantly, she gets up off the couch throwing the blanket to lay along the armrest, picking up the box that she had set on the table the other night, tucking it under one arm as she answers the door. Looking up to see the tall brunette standing on the other side with his own box with her name on it. Nini noticed how empty her box seemed compared to his, something inside her realized that she was clearly more invested in their relationship than he ever was.

“Nins?” he calls warily.

“Don’t call me that,” she says angrily, handing him his box while taking hers from his arms. She quickly moves to close the door, but he stops it placing a hand on it roughly.

“Nini, can we talk about this? I don’t want to end things on a bad note.” He tries to reason with her.

The brunette shakes her head, “Alex, it’s over. There’s nothing else to talk about.” She says pushing the door closed, locking it behind her. She slides down the door, tears beginning to well up in her eyes.

She had wasted nearly two years on him, a boy that didn’t really love her. Sure, he said it, but that didn’t mean he meant it. It was incredibly rare for him to be the one reaching out to see what she was doing or how she was, he was never at her apartment, he was reluctant for her to meet his friends and she had only met his parents twice. She was trying to figure out what went wrong. Did she do something wrong? Was she not enough?

Out of the spur of the moment, she takes her phone out of her pocket, eyesight blurring from the tears that were welling up in her eyes, fighting to fall. She opens up her recent calls, and clicks the first one.

“I’m not fine.” She whispers quietly into the phone.

“Nini?” The man’s voice says through the phone. For the second time that day, the voice that came through the phone wasn’t the man she had thought was going to be on the other line. It wasn’t the stranger that she was talking to earlier that evening; it was the one person she didn’t want to find out about what happened, at least not yet. She realized she had accidentally hit his number instead of the most recent one, she cursed lowly to herself.

“Nini, what’s wrong?” He asks worried, the other end had a lot of rustling and movement. The noise brought Nini back to reality, not wanting anyone to come over to her apartment, especially not right now. She hadn’t told any of her friends of the recent development in her relationship, or lack thereof, with Alex.

Wiping away the tears that were pooling in her eyes, taking in a deep breath trying to gain control of her voice again, “EJ, it’s nothing, really. I didn’t mean to call you.” She starts, getting up from her spot placing the box Alex had brought over to the kitchen table, shuffling through it. Picking some things that stood out to her, noticing a pile of their photos near the bottom of the box. Her eyes begin to water again as she rifles through them.

“I’m coming over.” He says shortly before hanging up the phone, not giving her the chance to refuse.

The brunette sighs looking down at her home screen, knowing there wasn’t any use of trying to call back. He was probably breaking all kinds of speed limits to get there. She listens to the noises coming from the hustle and bustle of the city as she tosses the photos into the trash can, not wanting to have a single memory of the boy that cut her deep. She moves to turn on the kettle, pulling out two mugs and hot chocolate packages with a bag of marshmallows. It was her favourite comfort drink — or drink all together.

Rifling through the box as she waits for the kettle to finish boiling, pulling out a few sweaters and jeans that she had left at his place, folding them the way she liked it, placing them neatly on the table. As she takes out a few books and one of her filled sketchbooks that were in the box, she hears a key being shoved into the lock, turning to open it. She turns to see her best friend, who was analyzing her making sure she wasn’t physically hurt. Nini sighs, making her way to the stove taking the kettle off the heat as the loud whistling starts filling the empty apartment.

“I’m fine EJ.” She says as she pours water into each of the mugs, avoiding all eye contact with him wanting to avoid the conversation for as long as possible.

The boy sighs, as she hands slides the mug over to him, “You’re not fine. You called me literally saying those exact words. Mouse, tell me what happened.” He tries his best to pull out what’s bothering her, using the nickname he had made up for her when they were in high school.

After EJ had hit a growth spurt when he was 15, he noticed how small his best friend was compared to him, telling her she was like the size of a mouse. She countered back angrily for judging her height by calling him an elephant. And from that day forward, Nini was his mouse, and he was her elephant, or Ellie for short.

“The call wasn’t meant for you.” She says staring at the backsplash, taking a careful sip from the mug.

EJ shakes his head at the brunette, “I’m your best friend Nini. Who would you be calling instead of me, telling them you’re not fine? You’re like my little sister, I want to be here for you when you’re not doing okay.” He says trying to reason with her, taking a hold of her shoulders to turn her body towards him, “Please, mouse, tell me what’s wrong?”

The minute she meets his green eyes, she starts to tear up biting her lip trying to keep herself from letting the tears fall. Wordlessly, EJ pulls the small girl into his arms, “Ellie, he broke up with me.” She cries into his sweater, hugging him closer to her body. His chin drops on top of her head, running a hand up and down her back.

If EJ was being honest, he never liked Alex, he felt like he didn’t deserve Nini. He never gave her the time of day, always cancelling on her last minute, or forgetting important dates. Nini was well aware of his feelings towards her ex-boyfriend, it was probably one of the reasons that she didn’t tell him. All EJ knew was that he was going to help pick up the pieces that Alex left behind.

* * *

It took Nini a month to let Alex finally leave her mind. He never once called her or tried to see her after the break up, and Nini knew she had to work on letting him go. During that month, she had thrown herself into her school, work and her art. Any chance Nini had free time she could be found in her apartment enraptured in painting something new, or hammering out another paper. She ran the same cycle day in and out, class, lunch, work, the occasional coffee with EJ, art, dinner, sleep, repeat. Rounding the end of the month, the thought of Alex had completely been swept from her mind, like the break up never happened.

EJ saw how it was tearing his best friend apart, she couldn’t just live her life like that. He didn’t think it was healthy, she didn’t make time for other people and friends, even him. He had seen her a total of six times in the last two months, insisting she only had time for school and work at the time, but he knew that wasn’t true. At the two-month mark, he decided to invite Nini over to his new place. Given that she’s been keeping herself busy she hasn’t had time to stop by and meet his new roommate, he thought it would be the perfect distraction.

That was how Nini ended up at his doorstep, struggling to hold the three dishes that she had brought as she knocked on the door lightly hoping it was loud enough to be heard through the apartment. Nini was a little stressed about meeting some new people, but she wanted to do what EJ wanted just so he would get off her back. One night won’t hurt she told herself on the walk over, a poor attempt to convince herself that everything was going to turn out fine and she didn’t have to worry about anything.

The door swung open revealing her best friend, “Ellie, could you help me with these?” She asks, trying her best to hand the top two trays to the tall boy. He laughs at her struggle as he takes all three of them off her hands with ease.

“Nini, you didn’t have to bring so much,” he tells her as he guides her into his new apartment.

The brunette waves her hands at the tall boy, “I wasn’t working today and my class this morning got cancelled. It’s not a big deal. Plus, it’s my first time here and I didn’t want to show up empty handed.” She reassures her best friend, “Is Gina here yet?” She asks about his girlfriend curiously.

“Yeah, let me introduce you to everyone.” He says after setting the food down on the counter in the kitchen. She follows her best friend into the living room where she only recognized Gina and his cousin, Ashlyn. “Guys, this is my best friend, Nini. Nini, this is everyone.” He introduces the small girl as he starts listing off everyone’s names which she tries her best to remember each of them.

Nini smiles and waves at the group, hugging Gina and Ashlyn as she goes around meeting the rest of the guests. Nini wonders which one is EJ’s new roommate, she knows he’s mentioned him a couple of times when they went out to coffee but the name keeps slipping her mind. When she gets to the last boy, she couldn’t help but let her eyes roam for a minute. He was definitely attractive, with his curly hair and his sharp jaw. He had a cute smile she notes, as she sticks out her hand, “I’m Nini.” She says smiling at the boy.

He takes her hand shaking it, “You know, it’s funny. You’re the second Nini, I’ve met this month. Well, actually, I didn’t actually meet her but we talked on the phone. Big Red over there dared me to call a random number professing my love for them or whatever. I thought she was just going to hang up but she was nice and joked around with me.” He laughs as he retells his story from two months ago, she notes how he tends to ramble and tell stories despite knowing her for less than five minutes.

Suddenly, Nini takes in the story he had just shared, her mind flashing back to a phone conversation she had two months ago, instantly recalling the boy that had called her thinking she was some girl named Monica. She rifles through her memory trying to remember the name, when it finally came to her she wonders if he’s the same boy, “Ricky?” She asks looking at him quizzically.

“Yeah?” He responds, not realizing that he had never introduced himself so there wasn’t that big of a chance that she would actually know his name, “Not Monica, Nini. You called me that night.” She giggles, taking a seat next to him.

His eyes widen in shock, “Wait, you’re kidding?!” He exclaims. Shaking her head laughing, “I can’t believe it was a dare” She says looking at the boy next to her.

The curly-haired boy laughs rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment, “Sorry about that. I was going to tell you, but you said you were having a rough day and I was kind of glad I made it a little bit better. But, how are you? I remember you telling me about an ex-boyfriend.” He says quietly not sure if she was ready to talk about it, especially in front of so many people that she didn’t know.

Nini shrugs, unsure of what to say. She knew she was over Alex, she couldn’t hold onto him or the idea of him, “You know? Exes. But, I’m doing okay. Why did you never call again? Did you find another not Nini?” She jokes trying to let the thought of her ex-boyfriend slip her mind.

The curly-haired boy couldn’t help but burst out laughing, “I thought about calling you again, but I didn’t want to seem creepy? I don’t know. But now your number is lost somewhere deep in my log.” Nini eyes him curiously, wondering if she should be bold that night. She figures one more friend wouldn’t be entirely bad, at least she’d have someone to talk to other than EJ. And if she ever needed to contact EJ having his roommate’s number would be the best bet she reasons, “Well, did you still want it?” She questions.

Looking over to the small brunette, he laughs nodding, “No, yeah that’d be great! You’re my roommate’s best friend, at least I know who to call if he starts acting dumb or something.” He jokes handing over his phone.

She takes it gently into her hands inputting her number and her name. As she hands it back to him, “You mean he stops?” She giggles.

“Nini! I heard that!” The tall boy says from across the room startling the pair out of their conversation, forgetting about the rest of the people that were in the room having their own conversations.

Nini’s face flushes at the realization that she hadn’t made conversation with anyone else, and started picking at the already chipping nail polish on her nails. Deciding to let the joking banter with Ricky slip her mind, she gets up, “I, uh, brought lasagna I should probably heat it up in the oven, if you don’t mind?” She says kindly to the boy that she was just sitting beside.

Standing up, Nini couldn’t help but notice how much taller he was than her. He wasn’t nearly as tall as EJ, maybe falling two or three inches shorter than him, but Nini is a very small girl only standing at about 5’5, so she tends to notice when people are significantly taller than her. She quietly follows the curly-headed boy into the kitchen, noticing how EJ’s eyes were following the pair closely, knowing how Nini was with new people. She mouths to him that she’s fine. There was something about Ricky that made it easier to talk to. Nini’s normally quiet, reserved and awkward around new people, but Ricky was different; she wasn’t quite sure what it was.

Looking over his shoulder standing at the stove, “What did you want it to be at?” He asks casually referring to the stove already starting to turn the dial.

“425.” She informs him as she takes the plastic cover off one of the many trays she had brought, sliding it across the counter lightly so she can uncover the other tray. When Ricky turns to look at the brunette, he sees how much she had made eyes widening slightly chuckling at the girl as he leans against the kitchen counter, “Why did you make so much? There’s only like 10 people out there.”

Nini laughs waving him off, “Well, I know Ashlyn’s vegetarian and I wasn’t really sure if any of you or your friends were too, or didn’t like anything. So, I made a regular meat lasagna, and then a vegan one in case someone was vegan and, Oh! I also made some cookies and these lemon bars that Gina absolutely would die for!” She says excitedly, not realizing she was rambling on about her cooking.

The boy couldn’t help but chuckle at the brunette, watching her as she was talking excitedly. She had these bright eyes and a wide smile when she stopped being nervous about other people’s dietary restrictions, and focused in on the desserts that she had made. When Nini looks over at Ricky who was watching her with a small smile graced on his face, she raises an eyebrow slightly smiling at him, “What?”

“You’re cute.” He says, chuckling at the brunette, his face going bright red a second later realizing what he said, “When you talk about cooking, and stuff. Do you do this often?” He rushes to explain himself, a little embarrassed of what had just said to the girl. He couldn’t help but notice the way her cheeks reddened at his comment.

Nini chuckles moving around him to open the stove placing one of the trays into the oven, “Not really. I don’t have that many things to go to, and I’m busy a lot of the time with school and stuff. But I like to cook and bake, so I don’t mind making a lot for events like this.” She says smiling at the boy as he places the second lasagna next to the other one in the oven. “Plus, you and EJ will probably have a ton of leftovers so you don’t have to cook for a few days.” She adds on.

Ricky settles himself on top of the counter as they wait for the lasagnas to finish up. Nini hands him one of the lemon bars that she was gushing about earlier, watching him expectantly hoping he liked it. She watches as his eyes go wide as he takes a bite, “Nini this is so fucking good, you have to teach me how to make it!” He says with a mouth full of the treat, taking another bite before finishing the one in his mouth.

Before Nini could respond, EJ pops his head into the kitchen “Mouse, you doing okay?”

Nini couldn’t help but roll her eyes at her best friend. Sometimes his older brother mindset came with some faults. Growing up, EJ was an only child, the closest person he had to a sibling was Ashlyn, that was until he met Nini when they were 12. Ever since then, he took on the big brother role, putting others in their place when they would hurt or bother her. “El, I’m fine.” She says crossing her arms leaning against the counter.

“Mouse?” Ricky asks, shooting the small girl a curious look chuckling at the nickname. As EJ walks further into the kitchen stealing a cookie that Nini had made earlier that afternoon. The brunette rolls her eyes, “When we were in high school, EJ suddenly became a giant and he started calling me mouse because of how small I was.”

“I mean,” he shrugs, taking another lemon bar out of the tray, “He’s not wrong.”

“Ricky!” She exclaims slightly offended, “No more lemon bars for you sir.” She says jokingly picking up the tray and moving them away from the curly-headed boy. The two boys couldn’t help but burst out laughing at the small brunette. Ricky hops off the counter, and before Nini could notice he reaches over her, stealing another one and shoving it into his mouth grinning widely at her. Nini smacks him lightly in the stomach, “Stop it! I made them for Gina!” She says warningly.

EJ huffs at the comment, “You make things for my girlfriend, but not me? Your best friend since we were kids. I’m truly offended Nins.” He says, placing a hand on his chest acting wounded.

The brunette couldn’t help but roll her eyes, before she could respond the timer on her phone rings signaling to take the lasagna out of the oven. She moves around waving Ricky’s hovering figure away so she can open the oven and take them out carefully, placing them on the stove top to let them cool for a little while before serving. The smell of the two dishes filling through the room, smelling incredible.

Ricky’s curiosity gets the better of him and leans over the brunette’s shoulder sniffing the fantastic meal she had made. He hums in excitement, “I don’t know about your ex, but I’d never let you go if you cooked for me, because Nini you have a gift.” He flirts looking at the pretty brunette.

Nini’s face flushes feeling a swarm of strange butterflies fill her stomach, smiling widely at him turning her head back to the cooling trays, turning the dial of the oven off before any of them forgot. “Wait. How do you know about Alex?” EJ interrupts the moment, looking at the pair questioningly.

Backing away from Nini to look over to his roommate shrugging, “We talked the night he was picking up his things, told her to call if she wasn’t doing okay. She seemed a little sad, I knew she had a rough day, I figured he was the reason.” He says, leaning against the counter placing his hand dangerously close to Nini’s not realizing the mess he was about to make between the two friends.

The girl couldn’t help but divert her attention back to the food in front of her, begging for them to be cool enough so she could serve them as to avoid the conversation that EJ was going to try and start. She knew the question that was going to come from her best friend’s mouth. She saw the gears in his head turning, realizing that Ricky was the one that she was trying to call instead of him. She was just hoping that he wasn’t going to cause a scene, especially not with people she didn’t know just in the other room, even in front of Ricky.

“He knew about Alex before me?” He asks, not the question Nini was expecting but she kept her gaze on the dinner in front of her as she pokes it a few times with a fork trying to keep herself busy. “Yeah.” She mumbles looking over at the hand that was resting just by hers, if Nini were to move a few inches to the right, she could twine her pinky around his. Shaking the thought from her mind, not sure why she was thinking of even touching someone that was basically a stranger to her.

“I’m not mad Mouse. You can tell whoever you want, I’m just- why didn’t you want to tell me?” He asks approaching the brunette cautiously.

Ricky coughs uncomfortably, deciding this is probably not a conversation he should be listening to. “Uh, I should probably-” he starts, but was stopped when he feels fingers wrap around his wrist.

“No,” Nini says, she wasn’t sure what it was about him but she felt like she could trust him with anything. “I don’t want to talk about this right now. Ricky, can you help me bring these out to the table?” She asks, cutting the conversation short.

EJ watches as the pair silently move around each other, walking towards the dining room. He couldn’t help but notice the ease between them, despite having only met today and once over the phone that he had just learned about. He wonders what it was about Ricky that made Nini feel like she could tell him about breaking up with Alex before him. Not able to keep his mind from drifting as he watches as Ricky cracks a joke, causing Nini’s face to soften and laugh at what he had said. He thinks Ricky would be a good addition for his best friend, she’s usually very standoffish and hesitant about meeting new people and making new friends. And Ricky seems to be making it a lot easier for her to open up. He just hopes he doesn’t treat her the same way Alex had.

* * *

On her way home from work, Nini was hit with a shock of inspiration, she wasn’t quite sure where she was going with it but she knew she needed to get home and get a paintbrush in her hand immediately. She strips her clothes from the day, replacing them for her painting clothes which consisted of an oversized white shirt that had too many paint splotches and streaks to even count, and an old pair of leggings.

Pulling out a large canvas from her storage she places it on her easel in the living room. The main reason she had chosen that apartment was because of the glass window that stretched across the entire wall in her living room, able to see the hustle and bustle of what New York City had to offer. It gave Nini a lot of inspiration, especially when she watched people in particular as they ran across the streets trying to make it in time for work or a date. She puts on her painting playlist letting the music echo through the sound system in her living room as she opens up the paint jars instantly needing to put some colour on to the blank canvas.

After a few hours, Nini was just about halfway done with her new piece. She makes her way into the kitchen turning on the kettle to make a cup of hot chocolate for herself as a little breaker. She stares at the canvas tapping her chin analyzing it carefully, seeing what parts she needed to go over again, where she could fix a stroke or two that weren’t as clean as she’d like. She wonders if she should play around with some mixed media. Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on her door.

Glancing over to the clock on the wall realizing it was nearing 9pm and she hasn’t even stopped to have dinner, she makes her way over to the door wondering who it could be. When she opened the door, she wasn’t expecting who was actually standing there. She’d understand one of her neighbours asking her to turn down her music or Gina or Ashlyn, EJ always just let himself in with his key so he never knocked. Instead, the curly-haired boy that she had met last weekend was standing behind the door.

Instinctively she pushes her hair back slightly, running a hand down her shirt a little nervous seeing as she’s only met him once and her art clothes weren’t exactly the most presentable outfit in the world. “Ricky, what are you doing here?” She asks, confused as to why he showed up or how he even knew where she lived. Deciding to crack a joke, “If you are looking for someone else, I think you have the wrong door,” she winks, alluding to their phone conversation from a month ago, opening the door wider for him to come in.

The boy chuckles shaking his head as he follows her inside kicking off his shoes, “Well, you weren’t answering your phone, and I was on my way home from work so EJ kind of sent me to check up on you.” He says looking around her apartment noticing the painting that was sitting on the easel. He begins to walk a little closer out of curiosity.

Nini scoffs, “I’ve been busy painting since I got home from work. EJ knows I never look at my phone when I’m painting, so you can tell him he has nothing to worry about.” She laughs as she watches him eye the piece she’s spent hours working on that day. The whistle of the kettle bringing her attention back to reality, she quickly moves to take it off the stove. She takes out a mug for herself, pausing for a moment and deciding to take out a second one for her surprise guest.

Walking back to the living room she stands next to the boy handing him the chocolatey beverage, which he takes gratefully. “You’re really talented Nini.” He compliments, not able to take his eyes off the work in progress,

The brunette’s face begins to flush, “Thanks. You should see my finished works, I only just started this today so it’s nowhere near close to done.” She laughs moving to take a seat on the couch in which he follows her sitting on the adjacent couch, taking a sip from the drink she had just handed him. “So, where do you work? Since EJ sent you over, I’m guessing I was just a stop on your way home.” She asks curiously, cradling her cup in her hands letting the warmth start to flow through her body.

“I work down at the hospital,” he says after taking another sip, setting the drink down on the coffee table. Nini’s eyebrow quirks up in curiosity as he continues, “I work in the ER, registering patients, nothing too fancy.” He mentions offhandedly. Nini nods along as he talks about his work, and she tells him about her work at the art gallery. Their conversations ranging from work to school even to his music and her art.

As their conversation begins to lull, finishing up the rest of his drink, Ricky clears his throat as he sets the mug back down on the table. He looks over to the small brunette eyes filled with something she couldn’t quite put her finger on, “I’m sorry,” he apologizes, Nini looks over at him, eyebrows raised in confusion not sure what he was apologizing for. Before she could ask, he continues, “I’m sorry for bringing up your ex-boyfriend in front of EJ last weekend.”

She moves closer to him leaning against the armrest of the couch, “It’s okay Ricky. EJ is just overprotective sometimes. And, if we’re being honest, I was trying to call you back actually. But I hit EJ’s number by accident, that’s how he found out.”

Ricky places his hand on top of hers softly taking a hold of her delicate hand squeezing it in comfort, “I wish you had called me.”

“It worked out for us in the end,” she shrugs, “We’re friends now, right?” She says timidly.

Ricky couldn’t help but let a smile grow onto his face, “Of course Nini.” He looks down at his phone that was sitting on the coffee table as it lights up with a notification from his roommate asking about the brunette again. The curly-haired boy just realizing that he never actually texted his roommate back on whether she was fine or not. Letting go of the brunette’s hand he quickly texts EJ back informing him everything’s fine and he’ll be home soon.

Looking back to the pretty girl sitting in front of him, “I should probably get going, thanks for the hot chocolate.” He says, standing up running a hand over his pants. Nini smiles showing him back towards the front door. He looks over her shoulder once more at the painting and grins, “You need to show me some of your paintings some time.” He says as he pulls his shoes on.

Nini chuckles, “Of course. And the lemon bars!” She says, reminding him of the previous weekend.

The reminder of the tasty dessert filled his mind again laughing at the thought, “I probably ate more than half of those that night,” he chuckles looking back down at the brunette. He questions whether it was too weird for him to hug her, if he should ask her or just go for it. Nini interrupts his train of thought when she takes a step forward into his personal space circling her arms around his torso.

“Thank you, Ricky.” She says when he brings his arms around her tightly.

“I didn’t do anything,” he laughs, unsure of what she had meant.

She looks up at him smiling, “For wanting to be my friend. I don’t have many of those.” She says as she pulls away from the boy. Looking down at her feet slightly embarrassed by her confession. He brings a hand up to her chin lifting it so their eyes meet once more, “I’m glad you chose me to be a friend too.”

She smiles once more before moving to open the door for him, “Good night Ricky.”

“Night Nini.” He says. She doesn’t notice when his eyes move just behind her looking at the painting once more before making his way back down the hall.

Closing the door after him, she presses her back to the door bringing her hand up to her chin where his hand just was. She couldn’t help but smile, feeling the butterflies swarm in her stomach once more. She looks over to her painting, a girl drowning trying to make it to the surface to get another breath of fresh air. She remembers that was exactly how she was feeling when she entered her apartment earlier that afternoon. Like she was drowning in everything that she did and she couldn’t catch her breath. But the one hour that she had spent getting to know Ricky, she realized she felt herself swimming just a little bit closer to the surface, even if it was only just an inch.

—

Nini was standing at the front desk going through some papers, sorting them out and fixing a few numbers here and there, when a finger pokes her on her forehead. She frowns looking up to the accused finger realizing it was just EJ with Gina attached to his hip. “What do you want?” She mumbles hostilely to him, smiling at the girl next to him greeting her.

“We are taking you to lunch,” he says rolling his eyes at the way she pretends to be happier to see Gina over him.

Turning her head to check the clock realizing her lunch break was soon, she huffs. She wasn’t entirely in the mood to see him, she hasn’t really been in the mood to see anyone really. She’s been exhausted and tired lately, barely getting 3 hours of sleep a night. Making going and paying attention in class, then working a few hours at the gallery, even harder. The times she looks forward to most is when she gets home where she can just let out all her frustrations out on whatever canvas is sitting on her easel. It wasn’t that Nini didn’t sleep, it was that she couldn’t. She didn’t know what it was, but maybe she’s overexerting herself, she knows she should take a break every now and then, and take a free day. But how can she do that when she keeps rereading over her mental list of things that needed to be done.

“Nini?” EJ’s voice brings her back to reality. She shakes her head from her thoughts, “No, yeah. Just walk around, I’ll come find you guys in like ten minutes.” She says, forcing a smile she knows EJ can easily see behind.

The minute the pair walk away exploring the familiar gallery she lets her smile fall, back to her natural state. Beginning to feel the tiredness of the day already take over her, maybe she just needed another coffee and food and that’ll help. She makes a few more phone calls and wrapping up some of the paperwork, she’s finally ready to go for lunch.

Quickly she grabs her purse and coat from the break room and makes her way into the gallery looking for the pair. She spots them sitting on the bench right in front of one of the newer pieces that had been shipped in the previous week, she puts on a fake smile again as she approaches. “Hey,” she says watching as Gina makes her way over to give the brunette a tight hug.

“I haven’t seen you since last weekend, how have you been?” She asks as she locks arms with the girl, pulling her towards the exit with the tall boy following closely behind them. Nini shrugs, “Just a little tired, I’ve been busy with school and stuff.”

As they reach Nini’s favourite café just down the street, she pulls Gina over to the counter not realizing that EJ wasn’t following behind until she turned around. Confused as to where the tall boy had gone, her eyes skimmed over the room searching for the boy, she finally spots him sitting at a table with his curly-headed roommate.

Nini’s eyes widened for a second, turning back around pretending she hadn’t just spotted the boy that’s been making her feel lighter with his sporadic text messages throughout the week. She instantly runs a hand through her hair, pulling at a few tangles out, a poor attempt in trying to fix her hair.

After Nini places her order and the cashier gives her a number to take to her table in order for them to bring it over. She sees Gina already sitting with EJ and Ricky, leaving a spot open for her next to the curly-haired boy. Taking a deep breath, she walks over to the table greeting him with a smile.

“Nini, hi!” He says smiling brightly at the girl. “Hi Ricky, how are you?” she greets setting the number down in front of her taking a seat next to him.

The four of them spent her lunch hour aimlessly chatting about school and work. Gina mentioned she’s starting to attend some dance class with Seb and Carlos and was forcing EJ to tag along. Nini couldn’t help but laugh, teasing the tall boy retelling a story from when they were in their high school’s musical and they had to put EJ at the back because he just couldn’t dance even though he kept insisting he could.

Hanging out with her three friends had really brought Nini’s mood up from earlier that day. Despite the lack of sleep, she’s been getting all week, she was happy to be able to catch up with EJ and Gina and to see Ricky again.

Looking down at her watch realizing she should probably start to make her way back to the gallery, she begins to put her phone and keys back in her purse. “Look, I’ve got to get going. But you guys stay, I’ll see you later.” She says standing up from the table.

“I’ll walk you back,” Ricky offers, getting up from the table, bidding their two friends goodbye as they made their way out of the café.

“What are you doing tomorrow?” he asks casually walking next to her eyes trained on the brunette as she leads him down the sidewalk towards her place of work. She wonders if he’s ever been to or heard of the art gallery, or to any art gallery for that matter.

Nini hums, usually her weekend plans were the same as her weekday plans. Just minus having to go out for work or go to school. “Nothing, I was probably going to paint and get some work done or something since it’s the weekend.”

He grimaces, “Weekend plans usually don’t consist of getting work done Nins.” He chuckles at the girl’s comment. She throws her hand non-threateningly against his stomach laughing, “Shut up, we both know I’m boring.”

“You’re far from boring Nini,” he says, throwing an arm around her shoulder, “Anyways, do you mind if I come over? You can finally show me that killer lemon bar recipe, and maybe a few of your paintings like you promised.” He says.

Nini laughs nodding her head recalling the conversation they had earlier that week. For some reason Ricky couldn’t go a day without mentioning the lemon bars, Nini had thought it was hilarious. Sometimes at work she’d get a random text from Ricky with a chain of lemon emojis causing her to laugh out loud, getting a few strange looks from her co-workers.

“Okay, fine. I’ll teach you how to make lemon bars, if you make us dinner.” She says smiling up at the boy, as they slowly come to a halt in front of the art gallery.

“Perfect,” Ricky smiles letting his arm drop from around hers, “It’s a date.” He says before bidding her farewell, making his way down the sidewalk. She’s thankful that he doesn’t turn back, or else he would’ve seen how red his comment had made her.

Shaking her head from the thoughts that were fighting to surface. She reminds herself that it’s a common saying that people use when meeting up to hang out. She smiles at his retreating figure making her way back into the building, tomorrow was going to be interesting.

* * *

Unlocking her door ready to just lay down in bed after the long day she’s had, maybe Nini might get more than three hours of sleep that night. But when she entered her apartment she wasn’t expecting her best friend to be seated on her couch. Causing her to jump and yelp, bringing a hand to her chest out of shock, “Fucking shit, EJ, a warning would be nice.” She says bitterly as she takes off her shoes, placing them neatly on the shoe rack.

“I want to talk to you,” he said seriously, not moving from his spot.

Nini sighs bringing a hand to her temple massaging it momentarily trying to relieve the tension that’s been building up all day, “About what?” She asks, taking a seat on the opposing couch looking at her best friend for a moment.

“Why didn’t you want to tell me?” he questions looking over to the brunette. She can tell by his face that it’s been eating at him, even earlier that day when they went out to lunch with Gina she could tell something was off. But she wrote it off because maybe he just sensed that she’s been a little on edge lately. She wasn’t quite sure on how to respond.

Shaking her head looking down at her hands not able to meet his eyes, “Ricky was the first person I told. It seemed easier to tell a stranger.” She says shyly.

EJ scoots closer to her, not daring to touch the girl knowing she’ll just retreat, “But, I’m your best friend Ni, it should be easy to tell me things.”

“Sometimes, it’s hard E. You act more like my big brother than my best friend sometimes, and it’s hard. You didn’t like Alex, I hated that you were right about him. So, yeah, I wanted to call Ricky because it seemed easier to talk to him even if I didn’t know him.” She admits to the dark-haired boy.

He runs his hands through his hair, sighing frustrated, “I’m sorry mouse. I don’t want you thinking you can’t come to me about these things.”

Nini nods, eyes fixated on the coffee table as she listened to her friend’s apology. She didn’t mean to make him feel bad, it was just the truth. She didn’t hate that he acted like an older brother, being an only child herself, she loved it. She just couldn’t find it in herself to tell him some things. “It’s okay, I just need you to remember that sometimes I need my best friend and not my brother.”

EJ nods in understanding, clearing his throat bringing Nini to look at him questioningly, “I just have to ask,” the question already causing Nini to scratch at her nail polish nervously, “What’s going on with you and Ricky?” He asks with a sly smile growing on his face.

The question threw Nini completely off guard, she blinks a few times shaking her head, “N-nothing.” She stammers, instantly knowing EJ wasn’t going to believe a word she said if she tried lying. Letting out a deep breath, “I don’t know. But I guess, sometimes, I get this, like feeling in my stomach when we talk. I don’t know how to explain it. He’s a good guy from the few times we’ve talked.”

The brown-haired boy instantly realizing what Nini was talking about he chuckles, “You have it bad Nins.”

“What?”

“You like him!” EJ exclaims watching his best friend carefully as the words he had spouted begin to sink in.

The brunette’s eyes widen in shock, “No, I don’t! Shut up!” She feels her face begin to burn in embarrassment, she brings her hands to her cheeks to stop the boy from looking at her reddening face.

EJ bursts out laughing, “Yes, you do! I’m your best friend, and I can tell when you like a guy. I knew when you liked Alex, Jacob who took you to homecoming junior year, Peter during senior year. Nini, come on, stop lying to yourself.”

She shakes her head defiantly, “Ricky’s a good friend, that’s it. And I just got out of relationship it wouldn’t be a good idea to try anything anyways.”

“Fine, fine. But when you realize I’m right, I won’t be afraid to tell you I told you so,” he smirks.

* * *

The next morning, Nini woke to a text from Ricky letting her know he’d come by around three. Checking the time reading that it was nearly 10 AM, her eyes widen in shock despite the bleariness of just waking up. That was the most she had slept all week, she thinks the conversation she had with EJ the other night had helped with her anxiousness that was building up inside.

After breakfast, she took a long, hot shower feeling more relaxed and calm for the day ahead. She figures she could at least get in some painting done while waiting for Ricky. Turning on her painting playlist she rifles through her paints wondering if she should play with oils or acrylics. She ended up deciding on acrylics knowing that the linseed would probably stink up the apartment, and she didn’t want it to smell when she had a guest over later.

Pulling out a fresh canvas she lets her hand takeover, easing her mind as she watched the brush move across the blank canvas, painting colours across. She was so enraptured in her painting she hadn’t realized the time, when suddenly a knock came to her door. Nini gasps remembering the boy that was coming over, she was still dressed in her painting clothes, she’ll just have to change after she lets him in.

Making her way over to the door she smiles brightly at the boy standing on the other side letting him in. “Ricky, hi! I was just painting, give me a minute I’m just going to change.” She says quickly, not waiting for a response she makes her way back to her room. Throwing on her favourite pair of black skinny jeans and a burgundy crop top. She pulls her hair out of the bun it was sitting in and fluffing it out.

Without looking in the mirror, she makes her way back into the living room to see Ricky standing in front of her easel admiring her artwork once again. She chuckles walking up next to him as she looks at the painting with him.

“This is a new one, you work fast,” he says turning to look at the brunette, he chuckles as he brings a hand up cradling her face, “You have a little paint,” he mumbles rubbing his thumb against her cheek trying his best to wipe it off.

Nini turns her head away from him bringing her hand up to the spot embarrassed as she rubs at it harshly. Ricky pulls her hand away from her face, “Stop, you might rub your skin off,” he chuckles, “Plus, I think it’s cute. It gives you character.”

The brunette’s face starts to burn, “So, you’re finally admitting that I’m boring?” She says triumphantly, reminding the tall boy of their conversation from yesterday.

“No, I’m saying it gives you _more_ character than you already have.” He laughs.

Nini shakes her head at the boy, “You know, has anyone told you you’re a flirt?” She says making her way to close the paint jars that were sitting on her cart, wanting something to do and also avoiding from letting her paints dry out.

“You think I’m flirting with you?” Ricky chuckles, squinting his eyes at her as he bites his lip.

The girl’s hand freezes for a second while screwing on the lid for the blue paint, she was too embarrassed to turn around or make eye contact with him. Suddenly she feels a hand on her lower back, “Do you want me to stop?” he asks smirking down at the girl.

The question caused Nini to throw her head back in laughter in an attempt to rid the fluttering feeling she had in her stomach, shaking her head back and forth throwing her elbow into his side lightly, “Shut up, Ricky.” She jokes, finishing up closing the jars trying to avoid his question. “You know, one time we should paint together, you seem to like looking at mine a lot.” She offers.

It’s Ricky’s turn to shake his head walking over to sit on the couch, “Nini, no. I’d waste your paints, I’m not good at art. Like at all.” He tells her. His hesitation caused Nini to laugh, “Nonsense. Art is subjective and all art is beautiful.”

“Like you.” He mumbles quietly, but Nini didn’t hear over the music that was still playing through the speakers.

She turns her body towards the couch, “Come on, let’s get started on those lemon bars.”

It took them an hour to finally get the tray into the oven. Usually the recipe takes Nini 15 minutes, but Ricky kept joking around, juggling the lemons and threatening to toss some flour on to the girl.

They collapse on the couch as they wait for them to bake. He looks over to the brunette who was staring at the wall in front of them, “You know, I’m never going to make these on my own. I’m just going to come over here and get you to make them for me.” He smiles.

Nini turns her jaw slightly ajar hitting the boy in the shoulder, “Then what was the point of me teaching you?” She asks. Ricky shrugs leaning his arm against the back of the couch behind her head, “I just wanted to hang out with you.”

The comment caused Nini to laugh, “You could’ve just asked. I wouldn’t have said no.”

Nini’s laughter was contagious bringing Ricky to join in on her laughter. “Well, it gave us something to do. And I liked helping, I just don’t think I can do it by myself.” The girl shakes her head at the boy sitting next to her, she couldn’t believe him but at the same time it did seem like a very Ricky thing to do.

“I’m going to make it my mission to get you to bake something all by yourself.” She says smiling widely at him, tilting her head back leaning against his arm that was propped up on the couch. She turns her head slightly to face him as he lets his fingers rifle through her hair.

He groans, “Why?”

“Simply because you don’t want to. Just like how the next time we hang out, we are going to paint.” She giggles as he groans at her demand once more, making the funniest of noises.

“You’re killing me here Nins.”

“Hey, it’s what being friends with me is like.” She laughs. Before he could respond, the timer for the lemon bars echoes throughout the room. Nini jumps up to turn it off moving towards the kitchen to take them out of the oven. She hadn’t realized Ricky followed her until she sees a hand come up from behind her trying to touch the hot dessert. Nini smacks his hand away quickly, “Stop it. Be patient.”

He whines as he pulls himself up on the counter. “Can I ask you something?” He starts, not able to keep his curiosity at bay having it been on the top of his mind the past week. Nini hums in acknowledgment as she turns off the oven busying herself with grabbing a dish to plate the lemon bars once they’ve completely cooled.

“Your painting from the other day. All art has meaning, right? So, what did that one mean?” he asks.

Nini freezes for a moment, not daring to look at the boy, she decides to try her best to play it off coolly, so she shrugs, “You know that feeling, like you’re drowning and it feels like forever until you reach the surface. No matter how hard you push and fight, it just feels endless. That. That’s what I wanted to convey.” She responds, moving over to the knife block grabbing one of them out to cut the lemon bars.

“Is that how you feel?” he asks tenderly, watching as a strand of the girl’s hair falls from behind her ear. Wanting to tuck it back for her, but knew that was a little weird seeing as they have just started becoming friends, despite flirting with her most of the afternoon.

“Sometimes,” she answers, as she takes out the first lemon bar handing it to him which he takes but his eyes never leave her face. “Why aren’t you taking a bite?” she asks, seeing as he’s been begging to eat it since they started baking not that long ago.

He takes a careful bite, humming at the treat ignoring how hot it was in his mouth, “Like always Nini, you did good.” He says hopping off the counter placing the other half on the plate that was meant for the rest of them. Before Nini could protest to just finish it, she’s interrupted by his arms circling around her.

“If you ever feel like you’re drowning and can’t talk to EJ or Gina or whoever, just know you can always talk to me.” He speaks lowly.

She smiles bringing her arms around his torso, “Thanks Ricky,” she whispers, feeling content with his presence, already beginning to feel lighter than she’s been the last two months. She pulls back, “So, how about we watch a movie and we can order dinner?” she offers. The curly-haired boy chuckles, nodding along as he finishes the rest of the lemon bar that he set down on the plate earlier.

The rest of the evening was spent with Nini poking fun at Ricky’s bad impersonation of Joey Tribbiani’s accent. Nini had learned that when they first met over the phone, the name Monica came from the television show because that’s what him and Big Red had been watching when it happened. Ricky learnt a lot about Nini that evening too, like how she can’t stop talking when watching TV commenting on everything. And how she makes her own candied popcorn, with white chocolate and sprinkles, then refrigerated, it’s the only way she’ll eat it.

When Ricky left her apartment that night, he promised to stop by the art gallery sometime in the following week, wanting to take his new friend to a new ramen place that just opened up. She smiles, closing the door behind him after bidding their farewells, Nini couldn’t fight the warm feeling growing in her stomach. She wanted to push it away, like she has done in the past, but there was something about Ricky that just felt different.

* * *

The following weeks Nini and Ricky spent a lot of time together, either going out during her lunch breaks or he would just hang around her apartment doing some school work while she painted, and having movie nights. EJ wasn’t aware of how much time the pair was actually spending together, he figured Ricky was just out with his other friends and Nini was being Nini letting school overwhelm her.

One afternoon EJ had decided to head over to Nini’s apartment, not having seen or heard from her in nearly a week, he just wanted to make sure she was still breathing. He brought Ashlyn and Gina, knowing Nini normally works on Thursday’s, so he figured he’d at least bring company while they waited for the brunette.

What the trio didn’t expect was to be welcomed into her apartment by a fit of giggles. They watch carefully from the entryway as they see Nini running away from Ricky squealing his name. He ends up catching her circling one of his arms around the tiny girl’s waist as he brings the paint brush up to her face, slathering purple paint all over her cheek and moving to the next. To Ricky’s surprise Nini presses her cheek into his, smearing some of the wet paint on to him, causing the pair to erupt in laughter. “Nini!” He shouts.

“You started it!” She says turning around in his arms to smile brightly at the boy.

“You two look like you’re having fun.” Ashlyn says, moving into the apartment kicking off her shoes. Nini and Ricky instantly look toward the door realizing they weren’t alone, pulling away from each other quickly, as if they were caught doing something they shouldn’t be doing.

The brunette clears her throat, “Hi, uh, what are you guys doing here?” she asks curiously, grabbing two towels off the painting cart handing one to Ricky to clean up their faces. The curly-haired boy moves to the kitchen dampening his towel to better take off the paint. He emerges bringing out a plate of brownies that they had made earlier that day, setting it on the coffee table in front of the couch for their friends.

EJ and Gina follow Ashlyn’s lead as they move to take a seat on the couch. “Well, I haven’t heard from you in like a week, and I thought you were working today. Wanted to see how you’re doing.” EJ informs her.

Nini nods, taking a seat next to Ricky on the opposing couch as he cleans off the paint, “I actually took the day off. You know, just to have a free day to recollect and stuff, and Ricky’s been keeping me company. We were just painting when you guys had walked in.”

“Painting each other?” Gina jokes as she reaches over taking a brownie from the plate, her eyes widening, “These are delicious.”

The room filled with laughter at Gina’s comment, as Ricky shakes his head looking over at Nini who still had paint on her cheeks, he hands her the damp towel pointing to the major spots on her cheek, “I told Nini I can’t paint. I mean look at that,” he says pointing toward the easel with a fading with the background of the Eiffel Tower, and he had added a few details into the cobblestone underneath paving its way to the well-known landmark. In reality, it wasn’t half bad, it wasn’t anything like Nini’s paintings but anyone could tell it wasn’t his first time with a paintbrush in hand probably had taken art throughout high school.

“Will someone please tell him it’s good?” Nini pleads from beside him tossing the towel down on the table. The boy’s head snaps in her direction scoffing and rolling his eyes, “Okay, Miss I can paint _Starry Night_ in my sleep.”

EJ had been keeping a close eye on the pair ever since they had met at the apartment a few weeks ago. EJ knew Nini more than she knew herself sometimes, and he could easily see how she started falling for the boy next to her the minute they had met. EJ wouldn’t entirely be mad if she started dating his roommate. He recalls the conversation he had with her the week after and wonders if she’s figured it out yet, or whether he should just have to be straight up with the girl and ask.

“Earth to Elephant,” Nini says waving her hand in front of his face, “What are you thinking about?”

The tall boy chuckles at his best friend, knowing he can’t actually say what was going on in his mind out loud, at least not yet. Instead, he suggests, “Why don’t we have another get together at our place. You can invite your friends too Rick.” He says.

Gina’s eyes widened, “That’d be perfect! How does tomorrow sound?” She says eagerly.

“Oh, could we actually do it Saturday?” Nini asks, looking at Ricky excitedly. “We’re going to an o-” Ricky’s hand immediately goes over Nini’s mouth preventing her from saying what their plans were. “We have plans.” He smiles sheepishly at the three friends who were eyeing the pair carefully wondering what they were doing that night.

“Ew, Ni!” He says retracting his hand quickly wiping it against her shoulder, “Why did you lick me?”

“Your hand was in the way,” she shrugs simply.

“So, what are your plans tomorrow?” Ashlyn asks on behalf of the group, interrupting the bickering pair. The brunette looks to the curly-headed boy expectantly, waiting for him to answer the question.

Ricky sighs running a hand through his curls, knowing that they weren’t going to let up, “I’m performing at this open mic night tomorrow,” he says shyly.

Their three friends' eyes widen in shock, they knew Ricky liked to sing and write songs, but he’s never been open about it. He’ll typically play and sing around the apartment, but other than that, he never posted it on social media or anything like that. So, Ricky performing in front of a live audience was surprising to say the least.

“Why don’t we all go?” Ashlyn proposes, “I’m sure Red would love to see you perform, and everyone else too. Then we can just go over to the apartment after.”

EJ nods excitedly at his cousin’s suggestion, “That’d be perfect!” Having never been to an open-mic night before, it’d be a cool experience, getting to see all these talented people sing or recite poetry.

Ricky begins to contemplate letting Nini talk him into this. She had heard about it from one of her co-workers who goes from time to time, and Nini had instantly told Ricky about it. It took her an entire week to convince him to do it, and now he’s here second guessing himself. He knew he wanted to do it, it was nerve-wracking enough in front of strangers but he thought that’d be easier than singing in front of his friends. There was less room for them to judge him because they don’t know who he is. But now that everyone was going to be there, he couldn’t help but feel the anxiety start to build up.

The small brunette beside him saw the way he bit his lip nervously thinking about it, she knew about his hesitancy regarding the open-mic night in general. She felt guilty having brought up their plans, but she was just so excited for him that she let her emotions take over before realizing her mistake.

She was about to tell them that it’s fine and they didn’t have to go, but Ricky beats her and to her surprise he says, “Yeah, that’d be great. It starts at 7 if you want to meet us there.” He smiles.

The trio agreed instantly, Ashlyn moving to text Big Red letting him know of the plans for tomorrow and to let all of their other friends know. The group had talked for a while catching up with one another as they snacked on the brownies that Ricky had set out earlier, before Gina and EJ had to head on out for their dance class with Carlos and Seb. And Ashlyn left along with them, insisting for them to drop her off at Big Red’s on their way.

When Nini closes the door behind them she turns to the curly-haired boy approaching him slowly as she apologizes profusely about what had happened earlier that day, “Ricky, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything, I was just so excited an-”

He brings his hands to her shoulders to stop her rambling, “It’s fine Nini. Am I a little more nervous than I was? Yeah. But it’ll be fun, and you’ll get to hang out and make some friends. It’ll be good.” He tells her.

The petite girl nods, sighing in relief knowing that he wasn’t mad at her. She was excited for tomorrow, a little nervous even though she had met all of Ricky’s friends the night she met him. But this time felt different, she felt like she was ready to start to actually befriend them, they were all really nice and funny she remembers from that night in his apartment. She was just too awkward and nervous, but she thinks she’s ready this time.

Bringing her attention back to the boy in front of her, she wraps her arms around his torso, “You’re going to kill it, I just know it.”

* * *

To say Ricky was nervous would be an understatement. Throughout his shift at the hospital he was constantly fidgeting, some of his co-workers even commenting on it asking if he was okay, to which he responded with a curt nod. He was sitting at one of the high tables in the bar where the event was being held. His guitar was nestled in between his legs, while Nini who was sitting closely next to him ran a hand up and down his back in comfort reminding him he’s going to do great.

All of their friends were sitting around the two tables they had claimed. Everyone was talking to one another, even Nini was making conversation with Kourtney about her makeup. Ricky wasn’t paying attention to any of the conversations going around, repeating the lyrics and the notes in his mind fidgeting with the loose strand hanging from his guitar case.

He looks over at the brunette that had signed him up for this, she turns her head feeling his stare on her. She brings her hand up to hold the back of his neck, running her thumb along his neck, “You okay?” She asks worriedly.

Nodding to her, knowing that the minute he gets up there he’ll be fine. It’s just the lead up towards getting to stage that made it even more nerve-wracking. Ricky was about to respond to the brunette when his name is called through the microphone. He instantly freezes, realizing he’s actually going to go up there and sing, in front of all these people, all of his friends. He’s brought back to reality when Nini squeezes his shoulder in reassurance, pushing him lightly to make it to the stage.

When Ricky gets up there, slinging his guitar around his body, letting it hang in front of him like he’s done a million times. He nervously approaches the mic, “Hi everyone. I’m Ricky,” he introduces, in a last minute decision he decides to speak a little more before singing, “and one of my good friend’s forced me to sing here tonight. So, could we give a round of applause to that pretty brunette sitting over there in that white dress.” He says winking at the girl.

Even through the dimmed lighting he knows her face is beginning to go red as he sees her bring her hands to her cheeks. He smiles at the girl once more, playing the beginning few chords, “This is a little song I wrote. It’s called _Don’t Hesitate_.” He says, letting the music take over him forgetting about everyone else in the room. Opening his mouth as he lets the first verse fall from his lips easily.

As he sings, Nini couldn’t help but be captivated by him. She’s heard him sing before, but never like this. He usually sings lowly or jokingly along to a song that is stuck in his head or his playing through the speakers in her apartment when she paints, or they’re cooking, even when he’s studying. Music was a part of him, just like her art was a part of her. She listened carefully to the boy standing up on the stage, singing his heart out like nobody else was in the room. She was proud of him to say the least.

When he strums the last chord, the room fills with applause. The four boys sitting at their table cheering his name loudly and excitedly as he made his way back to the table. Nini’s the first one to pull him in a tight hug, “You embarrassed me, but I’m proud of you.” She whispers. The boy erupts in laughter as he hears her message, he presses a subtle kiss to her hair as they pull back.

Before either of them could focus in on what he had just done, Seb pulled Ricky into a bone-crushing hug that no one knew he had in him, seeing how he was always so gentle with the way he spoke and acted. The group erupted in excited chatter as they all congratulated and praised his performance, letting what happened slipped the pairs mind, Nini had brushed it off as a friendly gesture.

Later that evening, Nini was feeling extremely happy and content as she was talking to Carlos and Seb about the current exhibit going on at the art gallery she works at. The pair had never been, but was curious as to what kind of works they had. Nini was in the middle of telling them about an audio tour guide that the art gallery has when Big Red interrupts the group gushing about Nini’s cooking once more. After having tried her cooking the first night they met, everyone was looking forward to the next time Nini would come around with food.

Nini had made two casseroles for them to have for dinner and a few more baked goods, always looking for an excuse to try out new recipes. She smiles brightly at the red-head, “I’m glad you liked it! Honestly, it isn’t that difficult, I can always show you how to make it,” She tells him.

Out of nowhere, Ricky pops up from behind the couch leaning over the brunette, “Hey, I thought that was our thing,” he frowns.

The group laughed at Ricky’s childish antics, “Ricky you need to share me. Plus, you are the one that wanted me to get to know your friends,” she jokes tilting her head up to look at him for a moment. Bringing her attention back to the group of people she now called her friends, grabbing a cookie from the plate in front of her taking a bite.

Ricky jumps over the couch sitting next to the girl, slinging an arm around her, “I regret it. Now you’re going to hear all these embarrassing stories.”

Her eyes widen in excitement, looking at the other three boys expectantly wanting to hear a story. The night was filled with laughter and conversation as they told stories about Ricky. And in turn, Nini had told a few stories from her, EJ and Ashlyn’s childhood, especially the embarrassing stories about EJ despite his protests. If anyone had noticed Ricky’s arm had been slung around Nini the entire night, no one had said a word.

* * *

“So, Nini,” EJ starts as they walk through central park, each of them cradling a cup of coffee in their hands. Nini needed the extra caffeine boost to get her through her shift later in the afternoon.

She looks over at her best friend confused, “What?” she asks.

EJ shakes his head at the small girl next to him, nudging her with his elbow lightly as to not jostle her too much because of her hot beverage. “Are you going to tell me I’m right or what?” He says smiling with a laugh sneaking its way through.

The brunette looks at him wide eyed, knowing she couldn’t lie to him any longer. She sighs taking a careful sip from her cup, her eyes focusing on the people that were also walking through the park like them. “Yeah, you’re right. I think I’ve known since you asked me the first time, but I was too scared to admit it.” She confesses to her best friend.

Throwing a fist in the air in victory, “I fucking knew it. I love being right.” He says smiling to himself triumphantly. His small friend looking up at the boy a little weirded out with the way he was acting. EJ was never thrilled when Nini liked a guy. Ever since high school, he’s hated every single one of them. He especially hated Alex, she wonders why he’s so excited about Ricky.

“Are you okay?” she laughs, knocking her body into the taller boy’s, “You never like when I start showing interest in a guy.”

EJ shrugs, “Mouse. Every guy since high school has been a dick. I wasn’t acting like that because I didn’t want you to date. I knew the guy or I would get to know him and none of them have been good enough to be with you. Take Alex for example, he never treated you the way you deserved,” He says, not daring to look at the girl knowing how it sounds, “Yeah, I know big brother EJ is showing. But, I see you with Ricky. The way you guys talk about each other, I’ve never seen you this happy.”

“He talks about me?” she asks focusing on the one thing that really caught her attention.

The tall boy bursts out into laughter shaking his head at his best friend, “How could he not? You guys spend literally all your time together. I see you like once, maybe twice a week. How many times have you seen Ricky this week?” He asks, taking a sip from his drink.

Nini’s eyes divert back down to the pavement looking at her feet as they walked. Her silence was answer enough for EJ, “My point exactly. Nins, he makes you happy. Don’t be scared to try something with him. It’ll be worth it, trust me.”

“Not yet, El. I’m not ready. But I’m really happy being friends with him right now,” she says looking up at him, having to strain her neck slightly due to the near foot difference in their height.

EJ slings an arm around the small girl’s shoulder tugging her into his side as they walk through central park, “Whatever you say Mouse.”

* * *

“Hey, hey, pretty lady,” Ricky says as he walks into her apartment.

Nini cringes from her place in the kitchen, she was making her own whipped cream watching carefully as the stand mixer sloshed around the liquid in the bowl. She was making a strawberry trifle for her work’s potluck the next day. The vanilla cake already out of the oven, cooling down in the fridge, Nini needing it to be cold for when she assembles it. “Don’t call me that,” scrunching her nose up at his comment.

The curly-haired boy crowds behind her wrapping his arms around her shoulders, pouting at the girl. “But you’re pretty.” Nini shrugs him off, trying to calm her quickening heartbeat, she turns around shooting him with a glare, noticing the backpack slung over his shoulder.

“Do you have to study?” She asks ignoring his comment as she moves around him taking the already washed strawberries out of the fridge. Smacking his hand away when he steals one from the bowl, handing him a bowl of blueberries instead.

Ricky chuckles nodding, “My nursing exam. I’m just trying to get ahead and prepare early. It’s still months away, but you know,” he trails off snacking on the fruit she had given him. Nini nods in understanding, having been working her ass off the last few weeks on trying to get into teacher’s college.

“Why don’t you go set up in the living room. I’m just going to finish up with this.” She says turning her back to him, stopping the stand mixer, not wanting to over-whip the cream knowing that’s just a recipe for disaster.

The curly-haired boy wraps his arm around her waist pressing a kiss to the side of her head, “You are pretty, and you can’t tell me otherwise.” He smirks before making his way back into the living room.

Nini’s face flushes as she glances back to see his retreating figure. Letting out a deep breath calming herself trying her best to busy herself with cutting up the strawberries. Man, was she in deep.

* * *

Walking into the ER curiously, Nini’s eyes roam around the room looking for the curly-headed boy that’s been filling her thoughts more than she’d like to admit. She’s never been inside the ER, every time she would come to meet up with Ricky during his lunch break, he somehow always managed to meet her right before she entered the hospital.

She looks around seeing nervous looking parents holding their children, some people looked like they were in excruciating pain and others looked irritated having to wait for the doctor to call them in next. She wonders how many of them are actually there for emergencies, over a fever or slight pain in the wrist. She’s never realized how bland the walls of a hospital are, she thought it wouldn’t hurt to add at least a little bit of colour to give waiting patients something to look at and ease their nerves about being in the hospital. But maybe that’s just the artist in her talking.

When Ricky looks up from his computer finishing the paperwork off from the last patient, he spots the familiar brunette standing off to the side near one of the walls of the waiting room, her eyes travelling the room. His eyebrows furrowed in concern wondering what she was doing there. His eyes take a quick glance up and down her body making sure she wasn’t physically hurt. When he sees no presenting injuries he gets up telling one of his co-workers he’d be right back.

Making his way over to the brunette her eyes finally locking with his, she sends him a small sheepish smile. “Nini, what are you doing here? Are you okay? Are you hurt? What happened?” he starts firing questions at her not giving her time to answer any of them.

“No, nothing really. I mean something happened, and I was just too excited to wait and I knew you were working but I also wanted you to be the first to know. Because you’ve really helped me and been ther-”

“Ni, you’re rambling and making me nervous, what’s going on? Are you okay?” he asks, gently taking a hold of her hand stroking his thumb over her knuckles.

“I got my first showcase,” she says jumping up and down in her spot excitedly, “It’s at this small independent gallery a few blocks from that one ice cream shop we like, but I mean it’s still something. I’m going to be able to finally exhibit my work Ricky.”

The boy’s eyes widen in shock, he instantly pulls her into a hug lifting her off the floor, “Ni, that’s amazing! I’m so proud of you, oh my god.” He says squeezing the small girl in his arms as he sets her down on the floor. He presses a hard kiss to her temple, “I’ve always known you were talented, and now you’re getting your own showcase. My god, I can’t even imagine how you’re feeling.” He continues on gushing about the girl’s news.

“I know, I know. I’m still trying to wrap my mind around it, I got the call when I got out of class. Speaking of, I should probably get going, I have to get to work and so do you.” She says, “I just wanted you to be the first to know.” She says smiling up at him.

“Okay, fine. But tonight, we’re going out with everyone to celebrate.” He tells her, pressing one more kiss to her forehead before she made her way to work, “I’m so proud of you, Ni.”

The brunette not able to keep her smile at bay since she’s gotten the call, “Thank you Ricky. I’ll see you later?” She asks hopefully.

He nods, “I’ll come by during my lunch,” he informs, waving at the brunette as she made her way out. As he approaches his work station again, his co-worker, Grace, rolls her chair over to him, “Your girlfriend’s pretty. How long you been together?”

Ricky chuckles rubbing a hand on the back of his neck, “We’re not dating.” He tells her. The blonde looks over at him surprised, “Oh, well, if it’s any constellation, I think you should go for it.”

“I’m trying, but I don’t think she’s taking me seriously. I’ve been flirting with her since we met six months ago.” He laughs at the oblivious artist. Grace laughs at the poor boy’s failed attempts in getting the girl, “Good luck with that Bowen. You’re going to need it,” she chuckles rolling her chair over to her desk.

Ricky thinks about the brunette the rest of his shift, counting down the minutes until he got to see her during his lunch break. He couldn’t help but wonder what else he could do to make it obvious that he was into her. She’s always been spacey, maybe he just needed to be straight with her. He wonders if he’ll ever have the guts to tell her.

* * *

“Hi, come in!” Nini says excitedly to the girls that were waiting on the other side of the door. They were having a girls night in, something Nini hasn’t done in a long time. Gina along with Ashlyn and Kourtney walked into the apartment excited. They were going to spend the night painting as they talked about anything and everything.

Nini had prepared a bunch of snacks, even making a cheese board to go well with their wine. She had it all set up on the kitchen island. She had a bunch of table easels set up along the dining table, having been gifted them a lot over the years. As well as a bunch of paints and brushes set in the middle. Nini had dragged her easel a little closer to the table, needing to work on some stuff for her upcoming showcase.

The girls were all chattering eagerly about their upcoming evening, as they sat down and started getting their paints ready. Nini brought over the bottle of wine she had picked up earlier that afternoon, pouring a glass for each of them. Gina was going on about how badly EJ was at their dance class, even though at times she found it endearing, there were times she would get annoyed and frustrated.

“I told you, he can’t dance. No matter how many classes you put him in, he thinks he’s amazing and doesn’t need it.” Nini laughs as she sets the glass down in front of her.

Nini makes her way over to her canvas having already started her painting earlier that week, dressed in her smock opting out of wearing her usual painting clothes, not quite wanting to be completely dressed down for the evening. Nini lets her mind focus on the canvas in front of her painting large strokes of lavender going across the canvas.

“So, Nins,” Kourtney calls bringing Nini out of her trance, she glances over to the table waiting for her to continue, “Is this one for the showcase?” She asks curiously.

The brunette nods looking back to the canvas. It was of a few people walking through an empty city, all of her edges were rough as she scratched at some places with her palette knife, creating a sense of depth. “They asked me to speak at the gallery on opening night, kind of just diving into my collection and my inspiration for it. So, I’m trying my best not to let anything slip,” she laughs, taking a sip from wine that was sitting on the painting cart.

“Nini, this is so exciting. Your work is finally going to be displayed!” Ashlyn gushes, “I know how much that means to you.” She says reminding her of the time in high school when they would talk about their big goals and dreams. Nini’s was always to have her artwork exhibited anywhere, even if it was just one small piece amongst more incredible and talented big artists.

Smiling at the canvas in front of her she sets her palette down on the cart, cradling her glass to her chest taking a seat next to the girl. “It literally feels like a dream.” She sighs, picking at a few pieces of cheese tossing them into her mouth.

“Do we get to see your pieces before the exhibit?” Gina asks curiously, sloshing her paintbrush into the water so she could dip into the white without contaminating it with the blue she was using for the beach waves in her painting.

The brunette chuckles shaking her head back and forth as she continues to snack on the food in front of her. Crossing her legs in the chair, “The showcase isn’t for another two months, and the series that I proposed to them was kind of something that I was just thinking about. I have maybe four, this one being the fifth piece in the collection. So, I’m not exactly done with them. Ricky’s seen the first one, well half of it. I’m trying to keep all the final products a secret, even from EJ.”

She chuckles, remembering the other day when EJ hadn’t stopped poking and insisting that he should be the exception. He had claimed that since he was her best friend, he was the one that would be the most suitable to see them. She had set her foot down, asides from Ricky and the girls, no one else has seen even tidbits of her pieces.

The girls nod in understanding, knowing that this is an important milestone for the young artist. For any artist, their first showcase being presented in an art gallery in New York, independent or not, is a feat in itself. An artist’s first display outside of the one’s through their school, is the one they will remember and cherish forever. The process may be extensive and long, but at the end of the day it’d be worth it.

Nini’s mind travels to her pieces, she knew she wanted eight to display. Being at the halfway mark with only two months to go was beginning to eat up at her nerves a little, but she knew she was ready for it. This is what she’s been striving for ever since she could remember, she just hoped everything was going to turn out just the way she had pictured it in her mind.

“Okay! I think I’m done!” Kourtney says excitedly.

The brunette brings her attention back to her friends, “Let me see!” Gina and Ashlyn exclaim making grabby hands towards the girl. As Kourtney turns the painting around to show her friends, admittedly it wasn’t the best thing in the world but Nini knew painting for them isn’t the same for her. They did it to spend time with each other, the four girls gushing about their paintings pointing things out that they really liked.

Nini smiled to herself as she watched her three friends talking over their wine and laughing about their art. She never pictured herself having a girls night, or a big group of friends in general. It’s always been her, EJ and Ashlyn growing up. Nini had never been fond of big groups of people, finding it to be overwhelming and rather draining.

Then they moved across the country, leaving their small town in Salt Lake, probably the best decision they’ve ever made. Then EJ had met Gina during their freshman year, and have been inseparable ever since. Ashlyn had started dating Big Red during junior year, which brought EJ to meeting Ricky and the pair both looking for a place to live during senior year, they decided to room together. And the rest was history.

Unsure of how it happened, but the small little trio had turned into a big group of nine people. Nini had never pictured herself saying that she would have so many close friends, usually keeping everyone at arm’s length. But she couldn’t be happier.

“What’re you thinking about Nins?” Ashlyn asks putting a hand on her friend’s shoulder concerned for the brunette. Nini shakes her head reassuring her that she’s fine, “Everything’s perfect.”

* * *

Ricky was following closely behind Nini as she went up and down the aisles of the grocery store picking out what they needed. Nini called him earlier that day wanting to try out this new recipe and she insisted on him helping out. She was looking down at her phone reading over the list of ingredients when she turns to him, “Do you see any yeast?” She asks, looking up at the shelves eyes scanning for the product.

The curly-headed boy chuckles as he crowds up behind her, putting an arm over her shoulder, his finger scrolling through the phone she was holding, “What are we even making?” Nini laughs looking up at the boy, but before she could respond a voice that she hasn’t heard in a few months interrupts her.

“Nini?” She freezes at the mention of her name turning her head slowly in the direction of the brunette that she hasn’t seen or heard from since they broke up. She feels Ricky’s arm drop from around her confused as to what was happening.

Letting out a breath, “Alex, hi.” She utters uncomfortably. She watches as the brunette walks closer to the pair, Nini instantly puts a hand behind her back making grabby hands for Ricky’s to which he complies.

“How’ve you been?” He asks, eyeing the boy behind her.

The small girl forces a smile, “I’m good, really good.” She nods, not wanting the conversation to be any longer than it had to, she pulls on Ricky’s hand, “But, uh, we should get going.”

Before she could even make it a step, Alex interrupts her, “Nini, look about-”

“No.” She says firmly, gripping Ricky’s hand tightly, “You don’t get to do this. Not now, not ever. Alex it’s been a year and you know what? I’m happier than I’ve ever been, so please, just leave me alone.” She pulls on Ricky’s hand as she makes her way around her ex-boyfriend.

“Is it because of him?” He asks eyes glancing between the pair’s interlocked hands and his ex-girlfriend’s brown eyes.

She shakes her head scoffing at the boy standing in front of her, “I found myself Alex. I don’t _need_ someone to make me happy, that’s what I learned from our breakup. I thought I did, but I don’t. I’m living my dream, I’m happy because the choices I’ve made for myself have made me happy.” She turns her head to look up at the boy that has been squeezing her small hand every so often, reminding her that he’s there and that everything will be okay. She shoots him a look, to which he understands fully setting down the basket of groceries that really only had two things in it and pulls her towards the exit.

“Bye Alex.” She whispers as they pass him.

Nini didn’t say a word on the drive back to her apartment. Ricky knew what she needed, as they walked through the door, he pushed her towards her room telling her to change. As he makes his way into the living room, he pulls out a completely fresh canvas from the closet and opens up her jars of paint. Making his way to the kitchen to put the kettle on, while pulling out two mugs.

Before he could turn around he feels a pair of arms wrap around his torso, as she presses her face into the space in between his shoulder blades. He turns around in her arms, wrapping an arm around her, pressing a kiss to her hair as he mumbles, “Go paint, I’ll bring them out when it’s done.” She nods squeezing him once more making her way into the other room.

The boy sighs as he takes the kettle off the stove pouring the hot water into the mugs. He makes his way back into the living room placing the two cups on the table. What startles him was the silence that surrounded the living room. There was no music playing, the only sounds that could be heard was Nini’s brush strokes rapidly travelling across the large canvas and the sounds from the city through the open window. He’s never seen Nini paint like this, and he knows she’s emotionally charged and she’s letting it come out through her art.

Opting out from saying anything he lies on the couch pulling his phone out of his pocket along with his earphones so as to not disrupt her. He hits a random YouTube video, getting sucked into it as one video plays after the other, he doesn’t know how many he watched until he finally falls asleep.

* * *

When Ricky wakes up from his nap, the apartment was now filled with the warm light of her apartment instead of the natural sunlight, realizing it was probably later into the evening. He picked up his phone to check the time and it was nearing 9PM. He looks over to the girl who was still gliding her paintbrush across the large canvas on the tips of her toes trying to reach higher up, a lot more paint plastered on it than when he had last seen it.

Carefully, he gets up from his spot moving over the girl wrapping his arms around her waist, the action didn’t cause her to stop. He mumbles into her hair, “You should take a break, you’ve been painting since 2.”

“I can’t,” she says, her eyes never leaving the canvas, “If I stop, I might never finish this.”

He pulls back looking down at her concentrated face questioningly. His eyes traveled from her forehead where there was a streak of yellow, moving to the girl’s eyes that were flitting back and forth as her paintbrush ran across the painting, down to her lips that were slightly parted. He couldn’t figure out what was going through her mind at that moment, he just knew that this was something she needed to do.

As he moves back to hook his chin over her shoulder, he finally takes a look at the painting that she’s been working so hard on all day. His breath hitches, not quite sure what to think. It was a flurry of yellows and reds and purples, with rough and harsh strokes. It wasn’t her technique or her choice in colours that took the breath out of him, it was the painting itself.

_It was of him._

He watches her hand move to add highlights to the spots where the sun would typically shine, even in this abstract form. He knew no one had ever done what he was about to do, but he gently put his hand on top of hers that was holding her paintbrush. She turns her head to look up at him, the first time she looked away from the painting in a while.

“Talk to me.”

Nini shakes her head and she continues to paint despite his hand holding hers. It was easier for her to talk while painting it gave her something else to focus on, “I’m not painting for the reason that you think. This isn’t about Alex.” She says, “I got over him a long time ago.”

“I’m just happy Ricky. I’m happy that I met you, I’m happy that I’ve made so many friends these last few months, and I just- Alex never treated me like a priority and I guess it just made me think poorly about myself. You and everyone else kind of came at one of my lowest points, and I couldn’t be more grateful. I don’t feel like I’m drowning anymore.” She admits, alluding to the first painting of hers he’d ever seen.

He remembers how she was more reserved and quiet before, especially around newer people, but never with him. Not many people knew the Nini that he had the pleasure of getting to know. They didn’t get to see the side of her that laughs all the time, and bakes or cooks when she’s happy or the way she paints aggressively when she’s stressed. Or the way she carefully analyzes a painting before moving on the next one just to make sure she takes in every last detail.

“I’m glad we helped you find your way to the surface Ni,” he says nestling his face into her neck, humming a melody into the quiet air.

After a few more minutes of them standing in that position, while Nini added the finishing details to the portrait. She hums in approval plopping the paintbrush into the dirty water and setting the palette down. She reaches her hand up to Ricky’s hair, scratching at his scalp letting her know that she was done.

She turns around slowly in his arms hugging him around his neck, to which he returns by tightening his hold on her waist. As she pulls back, their eyes lock, and this time there’s something about the way she felt in that moment, that the voice in her brain begins to yell at her to do something. Deciding to finally listen to the voice, she leans in pressing her lips against his.

Ricky was surprised, but returned the kiss fervently. He brings a hand up to take a gentle hold of her cheek, thumbing her cheekbone adoringly. When they finally break for air, Ricky makes sure that his forehead never leaves hers, waiting for her to open her eyes to look at him again.

“I-I-I’m sorry,” she starts, shaking her head, her eyes remaining closed. She was letting her mind speak over her heart, just like always. Beginning to regret her decision, thinking that he didn’t want what she wanted, that she just completely ruined their friendship. She knew that if she opened her eyes, she’d just fall for him all over again causing her heart to break because she ruined the best thing she’s ever had.

The boy looks down at the girl, knowing what she was trying to do so he presses a soft kiss against her lips, “Don’t be sorry,” He whispers, “Nini, please look at me.” To which she shakes her head against his, her eyes remaining closed.

Bringing both of his hands up to her cheeks he stills her head, “Nini, open your eyes. I want those pretty eyes to look at me when I say this.”

It takes Nini a full minute to will her eyes to meet his, trying to convince herself to let her heart take lead for once. To let her feelings guide her actions, when she meets his eyes she couldn’t help but crack a small smile. He’s staring down at her like she’s the only thing that matters in that moment, and to him – she is.

He runs his thumbs over the apples of her cheeks smiling widely, preparing himself for what he’s going to say next. “I love you, my little artist. And you’ll always be a priority, I will be there to help pull you out of the water, always.”

Eyes beginning to water at what he had said. She knew that he meant it, she could see it in his eyes and the way he’s been there for the past few months. He was the one that she always went to when something exciting happened to her. He was there for her during the good and especially the bad times. He’s become her rock, and she knew this is what she wanted.

Ricky’s eyes flit between hers, his thumbs still stroking her cheeks, “Please, say something.” He begs. The brunette smiles, pressing her lips against his for the third time that day.

“I love you Ricky.”

* * *

Nini was in the middle of doing her makeup when she hears her front door open. Curiously she ventures out of the bathroom into the living room, she sees her boyfriend dressed in a pair of dress pants and a burgundy dress shirt. He was placing a large bouquet of flowers down on the coffee table. She giggles excitedly making her way over to him, wrapping her arms around his torso, pressing a kiss to his shoulder.

“Who are those for?” She laughs.

The curly-headed chuckles, placing his large hands over her small ones that were locked around him, “Wait, is this not Monica’s apartment?” he jokes reminding her of the conversation they had just over a year ago.

Nini gasps retracting herself from around him making her way back to the bathroom. Before she could even make it three steps, she feels her feet lift off the ground as he wraps his arms around her waist, “Ricky!” she squeals insisting for him to put her down.

“Are you ready for tonight angel?” he asks, pressing a kiss to her cheek.

The brunette nods, exhaling deeply as she repeats the words to her speech for later that night. She’s kept up a good job with hiding everything from her friends and her boyfriend. It was especially harder to keep Ricky and EJ from seeing any of the paintings, she kept having to keep them stored at the art gallery to stop their prying eyes. No one even knew the name of the collection, having saved it to reveal along with the collection.

“Let me finish up with my makeup and get dressed.” She says patting the hands that were wrapped around her. He sighs into her neck pressing a final kiss to it before letting his girlfriend go and finish up.

Once Nini emerges from the bathroom finally dressed and ready to go, Ricky’s eyes couldn’t help but check his girlfriend out. She was clothed in a beautiful white dress, with a floral design closer to the ends of her skirt and she paired it with gold heels and a gold purse. Her hair was curled loosely, flowing down her back reaching just above her waist.

Walking over to her ogling boyfriend, she plops herself down in his lap smiling giddily at the boy, “Ready to go?” She asks. His hands falling around her, one of them coming up to her neck to bring her down to his lips pressing a gentle kiss to them.

“You’re so beautiful, and I’m so proud of you.” He whispers as he pulls back, resting their foreheads together.

“We should go,” Nini says, getting up from her boyfriend’s lap pulling him towards the door. This was going to be the most exciting night of her life, she was finally able to say she’s accomplished her dream.

* * *

As people started filing in and walking around the art gallery, Nini walked around talking to a number of people, her smile never leaving her face as they asked her about her collection and her process. Nini had never felt so accomplished and full, this was what she has been working towards and she can’t believe it’s finally happening.

The second it hit seven o’clock, one of the workers at the gallery started speaking into the microphone introducing the brunette to the crowd. As the crowd applauds her, she gratefully takes the mic from the worker. Nini takes a deep breath, her eyes travelling amongst the crowd as she takes everything in.

“This is a series that I named _To the Surface_.” She announces to the throngs of people, moving over to the first painting Ricky remembers vividly, it was engrained in his mind having been the first painting he had ever seen of hers. He never got to see the final product and even during the halfway point it was incredible, but the final piece it was breathtaking.

“Sometimes in life we feel like we’re drowning, like something is weighing us down and it’s easier to just let the water sink you down to the bottom, like an anchor. Too much weight pushed on you to fight back and swim. But I wanted this collection to convey the rollercoaster of emotions when we do decide to fight back.” She says, walking over to the next piece, it was red and harsh, a deep contrast from the previous one. “We get angry and overwhelmed, for some us that comes faster than others. Then something in your mind reminds you of why you want to fight back. That’s what pushes you, that’s what reminds you that you aren’t alone. As you keep fighting and pushing your way to the surface, you realize the water isn’t so dark, you see the light starting to shine through. And, in this last piece,” she says making her way over to her final painting, a flurry of yellows and oranges, she had deemed it her favourite.

“This is what I saw when I finally reached the surface.” She says smiling, locking eyes with her boyfriend who was just off to the side, admiring each of her pieces as she spoke about them. “I used to be that girl that you saw in the first piece. But in this past year, I learned to find that my life shouldn’t be just about my comfort, but to get out there and to let my emotions lead for once. I felt sadness, anger, overwhelmed, but suddenly I started feeling happy, fulfilled and loved.”

“What I want you to take away from my collection is that when you choose to fight your way to the surface, a brighter light will be waiting for you on the other side.” She says finally into the microphone looking at each one of her friends, eyes lingering on the two most important boys in her life, “Thank you all for being here tonight, this exhibit will be here for the next month so feel free to come back with your family and friends and tell my story.” She smiles one last time to the crowd as the room starts to fill with conversation after her spiel.

All of her friends crowd around her exclaiming how proud and excited they are for the brunette. EJ wraps her in a big hug, “Mouse, look at what you’ve done. You’ve made me cry,” he says dramatically, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand. “You painted us,” he chuckles, gesturing over to the green filled painting of an elephant and a mouse.

The brunette smiles up at her best friend, “Of course, because you’ve helped me through everything Ellie.” She says as she wraps her arms around him once more. She spots Ricky talking with Gina and Carlos as he smiles at something Carlos had said. Nini pats her best friend’s shoulder, pulling away to make their way over to the group.

Ricky turns to see his beautiful girlfriend approach them, “Angel, that was amazing,” he says pressing a kiss to her lips, “Am I really what you saw when you reached the surface?” He whispers into her ear.

“Of course, baby. You were there since the very first painting, I couldn’t imagine doing this without you.” She says.

“I love you.” He says pressing a kiss to her lips once more.

Nini smiles into it, “I love you more,” She challenges.

Ricky pulls back ready to counter her argument. When Carlos pipes up, “Stop it right now, save it for the bedroom.” He jokes with the pair, their friends watching their cheesy interaction. Nini hides her smile into her boyfriend’s chest.

“I just might have to,” Ricky jokes, causing Nini to smack him in his stomach, the group erupting in laughter. Nini looks over at all her friends, smiling widely at everyone. She never thought the day she fulfilled her dream of showcasing her art, she’d have the most supportive boyfriend and a large group of friends.

_She couldn’t be happier._

**Author's Note:**

> i hope you all enjoyed this one, a little on the fluffier side. leave a kudos and comment, and let me know what you think :)
> 
> you can find me on twitter @xxprincesskels OR tumblr @nini-ricky
> 
> thank you all for the love and support, and i'm wishing you all the best  
> xx


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